Hello, My name is Tim and live in the Northwest Corner of TN.
My wife and I have never owned a pool, but with (2) boys (12 & 7) that have learned to swim we are ready to take the plunge into pool ownership. We are in a rural area and pool contractors are hard to come by. Luckily we found a company in Memphis that is willing to make the 2 hour drive to do the install that we feel pretty comfortable with. Oh, and we are doing the pool and a house addition with a large covered patio. Just our small part in trying to spur the economy.

I have been lurking here for a while as a guest trying to figure out what we need in a pool. We have come to the pool specs below and would like any opinions and comments on the route we are going.
18 x 37 x 29 Lagoon, Vinly, 3.5' to 8' deep
Pentair 1.5 HP Superflo Pump, and (2) 20" Cristal Flo II Sand Filters
SR Smith Typhoon Slide, No Diving Board
(3) Melody Color LED Lights, Polaris 280 w/booster pump
Sunguard Mesh Safety Cover
Going with the Progressive Aluminum Coping, Loveseat, and Radius Liner over Steel Steps
All Poll Alarms, Safety & Maintenance Equipment, Backwash Line and No Block Main Drain.

One of our biggest decisions was Salt Water Generator vs a Chlorinator and what type of Pool Decking.
We have several SWG's in our area and everyone seems very pleased with them. I travel a lot and I wanted something that would not take a lot of maintenance by the wife and kids. Do you still use the BBB method with the SWG?
As far as the deck, we like the aggregate, but when it is done bad it is bad. I think we are going to go with color concrete (light tan color) with a light texture finish. We are going to stamp color concrete under the patio.

Would appreciate any feedback, advice or warnings before we pull the final trigger.
Will post pics as we start construction on this project.
Great site and I will be a supported very soon.

Tim

Why two filters? Why not one big filter? Looks like you'll be around 30,000 gallons, does that sound right? I would suggest a filter similar (or the same) as what I have, one 600 lb sand filter.

SWG is BBB. After fighting the urge for a year, I just put my SWG in. Do it now, you will not regret it. Get at least the one for 36,000 gallon pools, but price the difference to step up to the 60,000 gallon one. Too many chlorinators use tablets, and mess up your CYA balance.

Aggregate looks great, but is hard on the feet and is hard to sweep (blower is OK though). That's my input there.

Price your automatic pool cleaner into this as well.

Hi Tim. We are planning to build this spring. We are outside of Memphis. Who is your pool builder? We've met with a few. I'm just curious if we should check out your builder too.
Thanks!

Jackty, PM will be sent shortly.

Robbie,
It is a 23,000 gallon pool. The quote said 2-20", I just made assumption it was (2) could it be a 2" line??
The automatic pool cleaner, do you mean the Polaris 280?? That is included.
By the way, what about aerators? Do they work and are they worth the money? My installed quoted them at $250 each and suggested 2 or 3 for the pool. In the late afternoon and evening about 40% of the pool will be in the shade so I am not sure if I need them or not.

I overlooked your Polaris because it was on the same line as the LED lighting.

You can make your own aerators (coolers) for about $10 each. I couldn't find the link last time I looked, so maybe someone will post it. We needed them a few times here last year, but remember we set a record for days over 100 last year! Without them we were going over 90 degrees in the water. One thing you should know, aerators will drive up your pH, and so will your SWG, so keep that in mind.

I have never seen sand filters quoted by an inch size, but I haven't been a pool owner very long, and I'm certainly not in the business. I've only seen them quoted as "pounds", for example mine is 600 lbs. My filter is plumbed via 2" line, but I don't know about your bid. I'd make sure about the filters before going forward. The bigger the better on these filters, and a 600 lb like mine isn't all that expensive. You end up backflushing a whole lot less when you have a really big filter. Mine's a Pentair Triton II T100, but any brand should be fine.

This is what we're going to do for aerators. I'm sure that others will give you more ideas.

http://www.mistcooling.com/poolcooler.htm

Double check the filter(s). They might mean a 220 filter which isn't nearly big enough for a 23,000 gal pool.